The Rise and Conundrum of Muslim Democrats in Turkey.

An influential theory in political science argues that parties espousing "radical" positions have strong incentives to moderate their positions once they operate as vote-seeking electoral parties with centrist and accommodative platforms.The moderation theory is also relevant in evaluating the prospects of democracy in many Muslim majority countries where Islamist oppositional groups have broad appeal.This paper suggests an analytical understanding of the evolution of Muslim democrats in Iran and Turkey by revisiting the moderation theory. However, moderation of these groups is not necessarily conducive to democratization, especially in consolidating democracies and semi-competitive autocracies. Besides, ideological frameworks evolve as a result of political learning and exposure to new ideas. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]